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Literature and Propaganda in George Orwell's Essays

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Literature and Propaganda in George Orwell's Essays LITERATURE AND PROPAGANDA IN GEORGE ORWELL'S ESSAYS Nina Sirkovi ć University of Split, Croatia [email protected] Abstract The paper explores the idea of manipulating language for the purpose of sending emotional messages and creating impressions in order to frame the reality to one's intentions. Among many other writers, George Orwell pointed out the social and political determination of literary writing and the author's responsibility in shaping the public opinion. In his essays, Orwell challenges the position of literature and art in general, concerning the society and political situation of his age. He questions the role of the writer in the age of totalitarianism, when the attitude to art is politically coloured and the integrity of the artist is threatened. The aim of the paper is to analyse several of Orwell's essays written between 1940 and 1949 in order to determine to what extent the relationship between art and politics is possible, provided that the artists still preserve their own sincerity and, as Orwell calls it “honest language“. Key-words: loaded language,literature, art, propaganda, totalitarianism. Introduction The world we live in is highly determined by the politics which influences our way of living, not only in a materialistic sense, but also determining in a great proportion our thinking, decision making and consequently, acting. Although loaded language is present in almost every aspect of human communication, politically loaded language can be dangerous since politics affects viewpoints of an enormous number of people, sometimes whole nations. Freely and Steinberg claim that loaded language provides many possibilities for obstacles to clear thinking. They define it as the use of emotionally charged words with the goal to establish a conclusion without the proof (2000: 85). In that way, language itself can be easily manipulated. Walton regards emotionally loaded language as a highly persuasive means, which is extremely present in ethical argumentation. He further explains that ethical arguments arise from conflicts of values where both sides have pro-attitude viewpoints. Each side uses emotionally loaded language to support their own 15 standpoints and strengthen the arguments and at the same time to express opposition to the other side (2003: 17-18). In his essay From 1984 to One-Dimensional Man: Critical Reflections on Orwell and Marcuse , Douglas Kellner finds different viewpoints on contemporary political and social issues in two books by Orwell and Marcuse. They both deal with issues of their contemporary social and political situation, with an emphasis on industrial society. Orwell and Marcuse give their standpoints about communism, fascism, totalitarianism and capitalist system in general. Orwell proved himself as a political thinker and prophet, whereas Marcuse offered an insight into contemporary issues, making his own social and political theory. Kellner writes that “One-Dimensional Man provides an analysis of such a totalitarian society which uses technology, consumerism, media, language, the state, and culture and ideology as new instruments of social control and domination.” Orwell, who was famous for his bohemianism and individualism and his support of human rights and democratic society, continually pointed out the danger of force and state terror. On the other hand, Marcuse put an emphasis on manipulation and new forms of social control. Kellner distinguishes an idea that the two writers had in common, and that concerns the manipulation and degradation of language and thought. They both established a strong relationship between language and politics and pointed to the fact that through the control of language, one’s thinking and behaviour can also be controlled. Marcuse even uses the phrase “Orwellian language”, referring to the new totalitarian language from Orwell’s novel 1984 “Newspeak” and its part “Doublethink”, a process of indoctrination pushing a person to accept false statements or mutually contradictory statements, so that one should have no personal opinion or possibility of critical thinking and could be manipulated in every possible way. Kellner writes that Marcuse uses the term “Orwellian language” to point out that in contemporary life, officials use “one-dimensional language” to smooth over social contradictions and problems in order to manipulate the public, restrict thoughts and public discourse. He points out that both Orwell and Markuse called attention to the manipulation and degeneration of language and truth in political discourse, phenomena also present in the contemporary era. Kellner praises them for opening an important area of political linguistics as well. Marcuse explicitly mentions loaded language in his essay Aggressiveness in Advanced Industrial Society : The loaded language proceeds according to the Orwellian recipe of the identity of opposites: in the mouth of the enemy, peace means war, and defence is attack, while on the righteous side, escalation is restraint, and saturation bombing prepares for peace. Organized in this discriminatory fashion, language designates a priori the enemy as evil in his entirety and in all his actions and intention (490). Loaded language is a powerful tool, which can be used for the welfare of society, as well as for completely different goals. It can influence the public for 16 selfish purposes, for economic, social or political benefits and can consequently cause, as shown through history, disasters with unprecedented consequences. 1.Orwell: Why He Wrote George Orwell was in favour of the idea that, in order to understand a writer's work, one should know more about his background, because the life and work of a person are inseparable. In his rather personal essay Why I write , which was written in 1946, near the end of his life, Orwell explains his motives for writing, the social and political influences on writing and his viewpoint regarding literature and aestheticism. He claims that the age in which the author lives directly determines him and his social environment, at that time colonialism and fascism. Growing poverty and war circumstances force the author to become politically engaged. Orwell evokes emotional attitude in writing to a certain extent to retain sincerity, which he finds of outmost importance. In his essay Politics and English language from 1946, he also points at the “great enemy of clear language”, that is insincerity. To the question of why people write, what actually motivates them, Orwell offers four possible answers, respectively: sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse and political purpose. Orwell admits that the first three motives are stronger in his case than the fourth, the political purpose of writing. Had he lived in a peaceful time, and had he not experienced the evils of imperialism, totalitarianism and fascism he would have probably remained unaware of his political loyalties. He stated that since 1936 he had been writing against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism. The time he lived in demanded political engagement and the authors had to be aware of that fact in order to be able to preserve their aesthetic and intellectual integrity. How to connect art and politics? How to fuse political purpose and aesthetic purpose? Orwell explains his efforts: What I have most wanted to do throughout the past ten years is to make political writing into an art. My starting point is always a feeling of partisanship, a sense of injustice. When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art’. I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing. But I could not do the work of writing a book, or even a long magazine article, if it were not also an aesthetic experience. Anyone who cares to examine my work will see that even when it is downright propaganda it contains much that a full-time politician would consider irrelevant (1941). Looking back through his writing, Orwell admits that where he lacked political purpose, his books were lifeless and without meaning. He compares good writing with a windscreen, it protects you from outside effects, but at the same time it exposes you to others. The writer has to reveal his personality and 17 follow his artistic impulse, but at the same time political purpose is the drive that gives life and meaning to words. 1. Literature and Totalitarianism Orwell is often regarded as an example of a socially and politically engaged author and his turbulent life and war experience largely contributed to his writing. Having learned about society and politics first hand, he distanced himself from both left and right influences and eventually developed as an independent socialist, a critic of his time, sceptical of any organized groups, especially of those leaning towards a totalitarian social order. Because of his individualistic attitude, insistence on humanity and progressiveness, and refusal to join any particular social group, Orwell was often considered as an anarchic individual during his lifetime. He claimed totalitarianism was the greatest evil of his time, and he constantly repeated that opinion in his novels and essays. Although he was attacked from various sides, Orwell never abandoned the demands for individual integrity, consistency, sincerity and truth. In the essay Literature and the Leviathan , he discusses the position of the writer in times of totalitarianism, where the state controls everything and where the whole attitude towards literature is coloured by political bias and loyalties. He claims that among English literary intellectuals there are strong tendencies towards totalitarianism. Politics inevitably interferes in all spheres of society, including art. Orwell believes that writers must have defined political standpoints, although that can be dangerous for literature, because political views influence creative writing, so the writer's inventive abilities fade away: Group loyalties are necessary, and yet they are poisonous to literature, so long as literature is the product of individuals.
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